


The Road Not Taken

by perchromic (orphan_account)



Series: Morning Song [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-26
Updated: 2013-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-02 17:25:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1059550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/perchromic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 1991 - muggleborn Hermione Granger has just been sorted into Slytherin. And a young Draco Malfoy finds himself wondering what it really means to be a part of the House of silver and green.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Road Not Taken

**Author's Note:**

> AU one-shot; will most likely turn into a series of interconnected drabbles along the way.

Draco watches the bushy-haired girl walk up to the Hat, her face ashen in fear and anticipation.

_Granger_

It’s not a name he recognizes. Not a pureblood then. From the way she looks so anxious, it seems unlikely she’s a half-blood. Draco’s lip curls. A muggle-born. A  _mudblood_ , she is. Disgusting. She’ll probably get Gryffindor. Or Hufflepuff, even. A sneer graces Draco’s face as Pansy Parkinson leans over to whisper something rude. But the girl is whispering things under her breath to the Hat, and Draco can’t help but notice the rose pink of her lips, or the furrow between her brows that appears when she frowns and murmurs. Or the dark chocolatey brown of her eyes - and Draco even manages to catch the faintest glimmers of honey gold and hazel in them, lit by the glow of the lanterns above their heads. Her face is otherwise rather average, for an eleven-year-old, but there’s something about her eyes.

Draco forces himself to turn away. No. She is dirty blood. Mudblood, or half-blood, she has the blood of a muggle in her for sure. Unlike him. And that makes her different, makes her  _wrong_.

And then the Hat opens its tattered brim, and Draco prepares his finest smirk at the sound of-

_SLYTHERIN!_

The entire hall falls silent. Pansy Parkinson gasps from her place behind him. Even Dumbledore looks somewhat surprised. Draco feels his insides coil, with a righteous burn. The girl -  _Granger_  - is frozen, momentarily. Her fingers grip the stool. Then she stands up, and removes the Hat, and it’s as though they’re seeing someone entirely different. With flushed cheeks and eyes that glimmer with indignant fire, she faces the entire hall. Draco is sure that many of the other pureblood students (even blood traitors like Weasley) have figured out that she doesn’t have a shred of magical blood in her ancestry. And yet here she stands for a moment, defiant and proud, and Draco has to fight back a stirring of admiration for her unwitting display of elegant grace that would make Narcissa Malfoy proud. Very interesting.

With a sharp turn of her head, she makes for the Slytherin table at the far end. Some of the unsorted first-years rush to clear a path for her, their faces nervous - as they should very well be, after all, she’s a Slytherin now - and for a moment the bravery on her face falters. But then she’s at the table, smiling and ignoring the glares from further down, and looking perfectly comfortable where she is, if a little timid.

_Draco, the mark of a true Slytherin is the ability to adapt to the changes around you. I trust that you will not waste your time at that school. You must become a Malfoy that we are proud of. With the Potter boy there, you must make good the Malfoy name. No doubt he and his blood traitor friends will be a presence you must come to terms with._

As Draco watches the brown-haired girl -  _Hermione_ , he remembers - converse with a hesitant ease, asking the Slytherin prefects a million questions a second, he can’t help but wonder if there’s something to be said for muggleborn girls who adapt faster than gaping, slack-jawed, amazed Purebloods.


End file.
